Friday Links – October 5 & Storytime Tomorrow!

Whew! Many apologies for the lack of posting recently. Traveling, sickness, general life craziness… those are my lame excuses. But I’m back, and there are lots of things to write about.

First up storytime tomorrow at 11 at Union Ave Books. Come on out locals and hear a cautionary tale by the infamous Mo Willems, Knuffle Bunny.

And now, some links! Oh, I have so many saved up from the last 2 weeks, but I’ll stick to 5 to save your poor browser from so much children’s book (and related) awesomeness.

Little free library encounter!

Have you heard of this marvelous movement? Little Free Library is a great project where you create a little “house” of sorts to hold books which are free to the public. The idea is to cultivate community and boost literacy. A book nook can be created by anyone (and there are instructions on the website) with a sign saying something to the effect of “leave a book, take a book.” While in Lexington this weekend, I saw one in person for the first time! It was at a sweet coffee shop. Unfortunately (for me) all the books were grown-up literature, but it was fun to see nonetheless. And so colorful!

A lovely review of illustrator, Eloise Wilkin.

I’m sure everyone is at least somewhat familiar with Eloise Wilkin’s work. She illustrated over 110 books in her career, including 47 Little Golden Books! Cassandra has a wonderful review all about Eloise with a few scans and images of her work.

Free vintage-style printable bookplates!

So I guess it is becoming a theme to share free printables related to books. And thankfully there seems to be a plethora of them! Check out some great bookplates on the Besotted Brand blog. Very Jane Austen-esque!

St. Peter’s Abbey library in Ghent outdoor bookyard.

Please join me in drooling over this bookyard created by artist Massimo Bartolini at St. Peter’s Abbey library in Ghent. There are 12 rows of books. Maybe someday I’ll have one of these in our backyard. Ha! Although I’d be afraid of bad weather ruining my collection!

Mary Blair Cinderella images.

And finally some more eye candy in the form of some beautiful illustrations from Mary Blair’s Cinderella on Modern Kiddo. The title screen is amazing as well as the patterns and details Ms. Blair never fails to add. Although the images are much darker and dare I say creepier than the Disney film version!

Have a lovely weekend!